Things are working out for both Hye-jun and Jeong-ha. It wasn’t easy to get to this point and they sure had to go through lots of bumps and challenges, but they’re here now and they’re not going anywhere anytime soon. They’re here to stay.
Record of Youth: Episode 10 Recap
Hye-jun makes a round of phone calls during his filming break. First up is Jeong-ha who he checks in with on that early morning. Jeong-ha’s busy eating breakfast with her dad and the phone call with Hye-jun gives away the fact to Dad that Jeong-ha has a boyfriend. After the phone call with Jeong-ha is a phone call with Grandpa and just like all the other times, Hye-jun showers Grandpa with some encouragement and support. The third phone call is an unexpected one and it’s from Ji-Ah. She’s sly and she indirectly hints that she wants to meet up with Hye-jun. She even brings up the past and the times when she would tag along with Hye-jun whenever he was invited to shows. Hye-jun doesn’t budge and he mentions that it’s all in the past. Things aren’t like that anymore and he can care less.
Dad remains honest with Jeong-ha and reveals the primary reasoning behind his visit. He hands her an envelope full of cash and confesses that he’s saved up money to give to Jeong-ha when she gets married. He’s started painting again and the reason being that he wants to show Jeong-ha to the entire world. Dad wishes to make up to Jeong-ha for ruining her childhood. He wants to be remembered and cherished as a good person to both her and just in general. Jeong-ha smiles upon hearing her Dad express his thoughts and sincerity.
Hae-hyo’s Dad questions both Mama Hae-hyo and Hae-hyo’s choices. He’s lost trust in both based off of how far behind Hae-hyo has fallen compared to Do-ha and Hye-jun’s acting career. He scolds Mama Hae-hyo for not achieving much with Hae-hyo given how involved she is in his life. Hae-hyo’s dad does the same to Hae-hyo during a private talk. He suggests Hae-hyo start thinking of enlistment if he’s not going to get much done. Why is it that he’s playing a supporting character in a drama if he wishes to become an actor? He needs to do much more and his dad can’t help but be disappointed in him. Hae-hyo and Mom have a conversation afterwards about Dad’s confrontation. Hae-hyo is once again compared to Hye-jun’s rise and Mama Hae-hyo remains honest and brutal with Hae-hyo. His career isn’t on a decline per se, but it’s just stagnant at the moment. There’s no momentum like how Hye-jun is currently experiencing. Mama Hae-hyo brings up the topic of enlistment again, but Hae-hyo refuses to enlist. He won’t enlist until he proves himself.
Jeong-ha turns in her letter of resignation to the director the salon. The director is sad, but she also respects Jeong-ha’s decision. Of course, the question of whether Hae-hyo and Hye-jun will also be leaving with Jeong-ha is brought up and there’s no answer to that question just yet. Jeong-ha also wraps things up with Jin-ju now that she’s leaving the salon (they talk while eating at.. of all places.. Subway! Lol). Jeong-ha wants an apology from Jin-ju or else. She has a recording of the one fight between her and Jin-ju where Jin-ju almost slapped Jeong-ha in the face. Jeong-ha isn’t afraid to blackmail Jin-ju; Jin-ju either apologizes to Jeong-ha or she’ll share the video with everyone.
Do-ha gives Hae-hyo a call and chats with him about things from his social media account to his jealousy towards Hye-jun to even Jeong-ha. He accuses Hae-hyo of having more followers on his SNS account than he thinks Hae-hyo is deserving of and wishes for Hye-jun’s historical drama to fail. Since their drama didn’t do too well, he would hate to see Hye-jun’s drama be more successful than theirs. The phone call ends when CEO Lee enters Do-ha’s room. Do-ha snaps a few more photos for his SNS account which prompts the two to have a conversation about Hae-hyo’s SNS account. CEO Lee admits that he’s never touched Hae-hyo’s account even when Hae-hyo used to be under him. For the models who he did work with, he often had to buy followers for their SNS account in order to maintain some kind of traction and attention.
As if the phone call wasn’t enough, Ji-Ah shows up unexpectedly to Hye-jun’s drama filming set. The two take a casual stroll around the area to catch up, but Hye-jun lays it straight with Ji-Ah. Just like her, he’s changed too. He’s not the same person she knew back then. He has no plans to include her in his life and he refuses to be even just friends with her. When filming ends, Hye-jun and Jeong-ha call each other on the phone and they make plans to meet up at Jeong-ha’s house. Manager Min-jae does exactly that when she drops Hye-jun off near Jeong-ha’s house and warns him not to get caught with Jeong-ha before bidding farewell. Jeong-ha resumes with work at the salon for her appointment with Hae-hyo. Hae-hyo isn’t feeling the greatest and he’s a bit upset, but Jeong-ha manages to cheer him up. On the way to Jeong-ha’s house, photos of Hye-jun are snapped and he gets caught going over to her house.
Hae-hyo has an interview with Reporter Kim, but he’s not so fond of how all the questions are about his relationship with Hye-jun and not him. Reporter Kim knows Hae-hyo’s Mom well so she isn’t too curious about Hae-hyo himself. While at work, Gyeong-jun is once again pestered with questions about Hye-jun. His manager still wants an autograph from the actor and one of his co-workers even brings up the news article about fashion designer, Charlie Jung, and Hye-jun dating at one point. Gyeong-jun knows his co-worker is only trying to provoke him so he doesn’t fall for the trap. Instead, he warns his co-worker never to do such a thing again. When Hae-hyo’s interview ends, he takes the elevator back down to the lobby of the building with Jeong-ha. He feels like drinking and would like to grab some with Jeong-ha, but she declines the invitation. Hye-jun’s waiting for her back at her house and she doesn’t feel comfortable inviting Hae-hyo over. Hae-hyo drives Jeong-ha back home, but he still feels upset.
Hae-hyo ends up grabbing drinks with Jin-woo and expresses his concerns to his best friend. Hae-hyo was never one to be bothered or jealous with comparisons between him and Hye-jun, but now he’s becoming a lot more conscious about it. He doesn’t seem to like it much. Jin-woo teases that it’s because Hye-jun used to once be behind Hae-hyo, but now the tables have turned. Hae-hyo wants to know whether Hye-jun too felt jealous and envious of Hae-hyo’s success before his rise, but Jin-woo reveals that he wasn’t. Hye-jun was too busy trying to make ends meet to be worried about Hae-hyo. Hye-jun makes Jeong-ha some dinner at her house when she arrives from work. While eating dinner, Jeong-ha updates Hye-jun on her plans. She’s going to leave the salon to open up her own beauty salon. She’s also not going to sell her house to let her dad help her. She’s always been good at helping others, but not so much at letting others help her. Maybe things will change with Dad’s support and assistance.
Jeong-ha and Hye-jun spend some time watching Hye-jun’s movie before wrapping up the night. They panic when Hye-jun’s Mom video calls Hye-jun so they take it as a sign that Hye-jun should go home. Mom misses Hye-jun a lot since he’s been so busy and she just wishes to see him. While walking with Hye-jun that night, Jeong-ha checks in with her boyfriend on how he’s feeling with all that’s been going on. Is he stressed? Is he okay? How is he really feeling? Hye-jun admits that he feels anxious about everything because it’s all going so well. Jeong-ha too feels anxious, but she’s anxious because she’s afraid of whether her salon will fail or not. Though the two are feeling anxious, they’re experiencing different levels of anxiety and that’s something the couple bonds over.
Gyeong-jun desperately needs Hye-jun’s autograph before he is to go to work today. Thanks to Mom, Hye-jun gets up to eat some breakfast and Gyeong-jun gets his brother’s autograph for his manager. Of course, he’s curious about the news article that he read about Charlie Jung and Hye-jun so he follows up with his brother about that. Hye-jun admits that he and Charlie Jung were close at one point since Charlie adored Hye-jun and gave him many chances to participate in his shows. With that, the dynamics in the house change and it’s Gyeong-jun’s turn to get scolded and picked on. It seems like Hye-jun is now the favorite son in the house. Haha.
Mom updates Mama Hae-hyo about Hye-jun’s condition and wishes to take the next day off to take care of her exhausted son. Mama Hae-hyo gives Mom permission to skip work the next day, but she takes it out on Hae-hyo after the phone call. Hye-jun was busy filming a drama while Hae-hyo had time to drink the night before. Dad is still pushing her to do something about Hae-hyo’s career and she’s not liking it. It’s another slap in the face for both Mama Hae-hyo and Hae-hyo. To celebrate Jeong-ha’s last day of work, she treats all the staff at the salon to some donuts. She also gets what she wanted which was an apology from Jin-ju in front of everyone and she also gets to clear her name before she leaves. Of course, this was only due to the video that Jeong-ha had on Jin-ju that she threatened to expose to everyone. The two came up with a contract agreement to conclude everything once and for all.
Hye-jun and Jeong-ha hang out at Jeong-ha’s house when he receives a phone call from Min-jae. Min-jae has great news for Hye-jun and informs him that he’ll be host for the upcoming drama awards ceremony, OVN Drama Awards. He’s also been nominated for the Best Actor award. On the day of the awards ceremony, Hae-hyo and Do-ha arrive at the show together. Hye-jun takes a few photos on the red carpet by himself and he prepares for his role as the host. Actor Song Min-su (Park Seo-joon) is also at the show and he too takes a few photos on the red carpet. Mom, Dad, Grandpa, and Jin-woo’s Mom settle down by finding their seats inside of the venue thanks to Min-jae. Hae-hyo’s Dad isn’t too impressed by the ‘Rookie of the Year’ award that Hae-hyo has been nominated for, but Mama Hae-hyo doesn’t think too much about it. As with all big family celebrations, Hae-na is to not go anywhere that night. They’re to celebrate Hae-hyo’s big day.
Jeong-ha touches up on Hae-hyo’s make-up back in the waiting room and the two are approached by Hye-jun. However, they’re not the only ones in the room as CEO Lee and Do-ha eventually make their way inside as well. Do-ha greets only Hae-hyo and speaks highly about him in regards to the award he was nominated for. Min-jae stops by the room as well to grab Hye-jun. Before doing so, she exchanges a few words with CEO Lee and puts him in his place. CEO Lee doesn’t think Hye-jun’s streak will continue for too long; there’s usually a thing called beginner’s luck, but Min-jae gladly points out that Hye-jun was a beginner when he was under CEO Lee (OHHHHHHHH!!). Min-jae brings Hye-jun over to Min-su’s waiting room so the two can exchange some friendly greetings. While Hye-jun and Min-su catch up with each other, Min-jae freaks out because she’s a huge fan of Min-su’s. She manages to get an autograph from the popular actor himself before heading back with Hye-jun. She’s happy, Hye-jun’s happy, Min-su’s happy.. everyone’s happy.
Everyone’s happy except for Do-ha who’s curious as to who the winner of the Best Actor award will be. CEO Lee reassures him that Do-ha will surely be the winner of the award, but cut to the award ceremony and it’s Hye-jun who wins the Best Actor award. Everyone watches proudly (except for Do-ha of course) as Hye-jun gives his thank you speech. Charlie Jung too is watching the awards ceremony and he’s tempted to call Hye-jun, but he stops himself at the last minute. Hae-hyo’s family doesn’t have much to celebrate with Hye-jun’s big win. Mama Hae-hyo is in no mood to celebrate. Hae-hyo is close to shedding a few tears in the restroom and he gets a grip of himself when Jin-woo stops to use the restroom. Although he won the Rookie of the Year award, he’s not feeling so great. Eventually, Jin-woo, Hye-jun, and Hae-hyo all snap some photos together with Min-su before they go out to celebrate at a restaurant.
Hye-jun reunites with his family while Hae-hyo plans on returning home. Jin-woo accidentally brings up Hae-na’s name which causes Hae-hyo to grow suspicious, but Jin-woo pretends to brush things off once again (fake it ’til you make it! Lol). Before leaving, Jeong-ha takes one last good look at Hye-jun with his family before heading out. Hye-jun wants to meet with Jeong-ha and he’s curious for her whereabouts, but she’s no where to be found. Instead, Jeong-ha is approached by Hae-hyo who wants to spend some time with her. After having rejected him multiple times before, Jeong-ha reluctantly gives in and the two drive to a restaurant. During the drive, Hae-hyo accepts a phone call from Do-ha who invites him out for some drinks. Do-ha assumes Hae-hyo’s hanging out with Hye-jun and picks on him since he knows he’s the one who wants Hye-jun to fail more than anything else. Hae-hyo awkwardly ends the call and goes on to rant a bit, but Jeong-ha immediately switches the subject. She wants to go eat. Hye-jun checks his phone to find that he’s gotten some missed calls from Jeong-ha, Ji-Ah, and even Charlie Jung and he calls Jeong-ha.
Jeong-ha and Hae-hyo eat out at a restaurant, but the aspiring actor isn’t feeling so great. He stuffs himself with his food and ends up puking it all out. He throws up when he’s stressed, but he couldn’t say no to a date with Jeong-ha. The two proceed by looking at some scenery and that’s where Hae-hyo expresses his honesty on Hye-jun. He wanted the Rookie of the Year award and he hates being compared to Hye-jun. Gyeong-jun attacks some of the comments accusing Hye-jun of dating Charlie Jung. He stands up for his brother and criticize those commenters for saying such ridiculous things.
Hye-jun and the family eventually arrive back home so Gyeong-jun greets them outside in the living room. Gyeong-jun points out how Hye-jun didn’t necessarily thank Dad in his thank you speech which might be upsetting for Dad. Mom tries to awkwardly navigate the conversation, but Dad walking into his bedroom only makes things worse. Mom attempts to cheer up Dad, but she also can’t help but just be so proud of Hye-jun. Regardless of who he mentioned in his speech, they should be proud of him as his parents. That night, Mama Hae-hyo drinks all her pain and stress down. Meanwhile, Hye-jun receives a text from Charlie Jung while he’s sleeping.
Hye-jun receives tons of gifts and presents from fans and Min-jae’s apartment is stuffed with all of them. She and Hye-jun’s driver rejoices and it’s a good day for everyone. The happiness doesn’t last for too long though when Hye-jun receives a phone call on his way to Min-jae’s place. It’s a sergeant from the Criminal Investigation Division from the Gangnam Police Station who wants to bring Hye-jun in in regards to Charlie Jung’s death (!!!). There’s suspicions that he committed from suicide so they want Hye-jun to come by to give a statement regarding Charlie’s passing. Hye-jun freezes upon hearing the news and he’s speechless. He’s at a loss for words. The year 2020 has begun.
My Thoughts:
Extra screenshots from the episode~
MaryMeKpop 